Mail-box.



A. P; MARTEL.

AMAIL BOX.

APPLICATION PILED'APR.1,2,^1909.

Patented Apr. 5, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l,

wntrLggEn-as A. P.' MARTEL.'

MAIL BOX. 'APIfLloA'rIoN HLEDAPR.12`,1'909.

Patented Apr. 5, v19.10.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STA'Ilil-Sn OFFICE.

ADELARD F. MARTEL, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TOL AMERICAN PATENT DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, 0F SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORA- TION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

MAIL-nox.

Patented Apr. 5, 1910.

Application led April 12, 1909. Serial No. 489,533.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADELARD F. MARTEL, of San Francisco, California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Boxes, whereof t-he following is a speciiication.

My invention relates to mail boxes for use in mail cars, more particularly, in distributing mail. In this operation the mail clerks, who are sorting out or segregating the mail, throw the different pieces into one or another of a series of receptacles, usually mail bags, and it is to facilitate this operation that my invention is intended.

To the above end I provide a series of boxes, having open fronts, into which'the various pieces of mail may be thrown. These boxes are hinged at the back so that they may be tilted forward, when desired, by simply releasing a catch. Upon the front of each box I arrange a hook or other device for suspending a bag in front of the,

box, so that when the box is tilted its contents slide into the bag. In the front of each box is a holder for a tag or label to indicate the destination of the contents of the box. For example, suppose a box is to receive mail destined for Niles. Then in front of the box will be a label marked Niles and all mail destined for that station will be thrown into that box. J ust before reaching Niles, the clerk will hang a mail bag upon the hooks at the front of the box, unless one is already hanging there, and will trip the latch which holds up the box; the box then tilts down and its contents slide into thebag, which is then unhooked from the box and closed and prepared for throwing ofic when the station is reached. The label may then be removed by a simple device, which will be more fully described hereinafter, and a new label inserted to indicate some station farther along.

In practice I prefer to make the boxes of metal, and mount them removably in a fixed frame by means which I will describe fully hereinafter in connection with the drawings which accompany this specification, and in which I have illustrated my invention by showing an apparatus for use in a mail car, which embodies it in its best form, though the said apparatus may be variously modied without departing from the invention.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of part of the interior of a railway mail car, with a series of my boxes therein, showing two of the boxes tilted down, one of them with the bag still hanging to it. Fig. 2 is a cross section through one of the boxes and its supporting framing, showing the box in position to receive mail. Fig. 3 is a similar view to Fig. 2, but showing the box tilted down to discharge its contents into aI bag, the bag, however, not being shown. Fig. l shows the lower front corner of a box, with the bag holding hook, the same being on an enlarged scale. Fig. shows the lower rear corner of a box, and

shows the manner of hinging it to the frame 4 and its ready removability, the same being also on an enlarged scale. Fig. 6 is an elevation on an enlarged scale showing a box label and the means for holding it.

In these figures 1 represents the body of the railway car, which in this instance forms the supporting framing for a series of boxes. At one side of the car are a series of brackets 2, which support the pivots 3 of the boxes. The boxes 4 are provided with hooks 5 at their lower rear corners, which hooks may be formed by bending the metal of the boxes, as shown on an enlarged scale in Fig. The hook thus formed on a box, is hooked over the pivot 3, and thus supports the box, which may be easily removed by simply tilting it down and unhooking it.

On the front of eac-h box I arrange hooks 6, in any desired number, which I form on a rod 7, supported in an eye 8 formed by turning over the metal of the box, as shown more particularly in Fig. 4L. The purpose of these hooks is to hang a mail bag thereto, as shown more particularly in Fig. l, in which 9 represents the bag. The hooks 6 may be pivotally mounted and capable of being turned into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. t, for the purpose of more readily disengaging the bag therefrom.

l0 represents a beam extending along the front line of a row of boxes, and serving to prevent mail being accidentally thrown out of the same. The beam 10 also serves for the attachment of latches l1, which maintain the boxes in their receiving position, shown more particularly in Fig. 2. At 12 is a stop, formed if desired in the metal of the box, which contacts with the beam l0 when the box is tilted, so as to limit its downward tilt.

13 is a stop on the top of the box, formed by upturning the metal of the top of the box, which contacts with a projection 14 upon the upper part of the framing or car 1, and thus limits the upward movement of the box. The stop 13 and projection 14 also serve to prevent any mail being thrown onto the top of the box.

On the beam 10 in front of each box I arrange a pair of springs 15 and 16 to engage and hold a tag or label 17. The spring` 15 is fastened at 18 and extends laterally over the end of the label. The spring 16 is fastened at 19 and extends upward over the side of the label near the end opposite to spring 15. The label is thus held by spring pressure and may be very quickly placed or removed.

In the use of my invention as illustrated in thc drawings, the boxes are all supposed to be in the position indicated in Iiig. 2. The mail being turned out on the sorting table, the clerks throw the various pieces into the open ends of the boxes, cach piece being thrown into the box which bears its destination on the tag in front of it. If a piece is accidentally thrown into the wrong box it is very easily picked out again and put in the right box. lVhen all the mail destined for a station has been put into the lbox marked for that station, the clerk hangs a bag on the hooks 6 unless one has been previously hung there, and trips the latch 11. The box then tilts down by its own weight and that of its contents, assisted, if necessary, by the attendant, and the contents slide out of the box into the bag.

Having thus described my invention, and believing that I have made a valuable improvement in apparatus for handling mail, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a mail handling apparatus, a series of open front boxes, pivotally supported at their rear ends to a suitable frame, and adapted to be tilted to discharge their contents in combination with bag supports connected to the apparatus ou which mail bags may be hung to receive the contents of said boxes when tilted.

2. In a mail handling apparatus, a series of open front boxes pivotally supported at their rear ends to a suitable frame, and adapted to be tilted to discharge their contents, means provided on said boxes for limiting their downward tilt and upward movement, in combination with bag supports connected thereto, whereby mail bags may be hung at the fronts of such boxes in position to receive their contents when tilted, and a frame, in front of each box, provided with two spring holders,l one of which is adapted to engage one side of a destination label, and the other one end of same.

3. In a mail handling apparatus, a series of open front boxes, pivotally supported to a suitable frame and adapted to be tilted to discharge their contents, in combination with bag supports connected thereto, whereby inail bags may be hung at the fronts of such boxes in position to receive their contents when tilted.

t. In a mail handling apparatus, a series of movable receptacles mounted upon a stationary frame and pivotally supported thereon at their rear ends, in combination with spring catches `on said frame for holding said receptacles in receiving and tilting position.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses this 3rd of April, 1909.

ADELARD F. MARTEL.

Witnesses:

JNO. T. DONALDSON, W. S. BATES. 

